International Fertilizer Development Center

WEST AFRICA FERTILIZER PROGRAM FIRST QUARTER, MARCH 2015

newsletter

USAID WAFP Program Office IFDC Ghana F26/8 Abafun Crescent, Labone – Accra Tel. +233 302 780 830 +233 302 786 069 Fax +233 302 780 829 For more information about IFDC and this project, please visit  tinyurl.com/usaid-wafp Workers check the weight of a 50 kg bag of fertilizer. Regular monitoring of over/underweight norms for fertilizer stocks is an important part of ensuring customers receive value for money.

UPCOMING EVENT JUly 14-17, 2015 training on GHana/ ECOWAS fertilizer and seed regulations

for media personnel and agricultural officers. Koforidua, Ghana.

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tinyurl.com/wafp-newsletter This newsletter was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by IFDC and AFAP. The authors’ views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government.

Senegal Makes Progress towards Implementation of Harmonized Regional Fertilizer Regulations In a major boost towards the adoption and enforcement of Regulation C/REG.13/12/12 relating to fertilizer quality control in the ECOWAS region, Senegal has developed complementary country-specific fertilizer supporting regulations during a consultative meeting held in Saly in January 2015. Organized by the USAID West Africa Fertilizer Program (USAID WAFP), the meeting brought together executives of the National Committee on Fertilizer and Soil Fertility of Senegal (Comité National de Réflexion sur les Engrais et la Fertilité des Sols, CNREFS) and USAID WAFP technical experts to draft legal instruments for establishing a sound national fertilizer regulatory system in Senegal. Senegal is the first country in West Africa to benefit from consultative technical support for the development of a complete set of national legal instruments for Senegal that are fully aligned with the larger regional framework.

framework compliance

With similar enacted regulations from other ECOWAS countries such as Ghana, Burkina Faso and Mali serving as reference materials,

the meeting participants drafted six regulatory instruments which comply with and support the ECOWAS harmonized legal framework. The instruments included: 1. Draft decree establishing quality control of fertilizers distributed in Senegal. 2. Draft order (Arrêté) for setup of a Division to be responsible for enforcing ECOWAS fertilizer legal framework and quality control of fertilizer distributed in Senegal. 3. Draft order relating to the role, organization and functioning of a National Committee for Fertilizer and Soil Fertility (Comité National Engrais et Fertilité des Sols, CNEFS). 4. Draft order relating to conditions and modalities for issuance of licenses for fertilizer importation and distribution. 5. Draft order fixing registration fees for fertilizer importers and distributors. 6. Draft order relating to violations and penalties for infringements on any provision of the regional and national regulations.

Stocking NPKSB fertiliser for cotton growers at SODEFITEX.

“...policies and programs are needed to encourage fertilizer use in ways that are technically efficient, economically rational, and market friendly.” – “Promoting increased fertilizer use in africa: lessons learns and good practice guidelines”, world bank (africa region)

USAID WAFP seeks to promote agricultural enhancing technologies through its Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) component, and help refine fertilizer recommendations to improve crop response to fertilizer for higher productivity and better returns on farmer investments. USAID WAFP is funded through the generous support of the American people and implemented by IFDC with technical support from the Africa Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnerships (AFAP). n

The group also developed a 3-month action plan which identifies further stages towards the technical validation and finalization of these implementation instruments including submission of draft legal instruments to the judicial department of the Ministry in charge of Agriculture (MOA) for legal review and the organization of finalization and validation workshop involving all key stakeholders. The meeting concluded with specific recommendations vital to successful implementation of the ECOWAS fertilizer regulations in Senegal. The recommendations include reassigning responsibility of fertilizer quality control in Senegal from the existing fertilizer subsidy program portfolio to a newly-created division within the MOA to avoid conflicts of interest; appointing fertilizer inspectors and developing a strategy for their deployment; designating a laboratory among existing facilities as the standard facility for official fertilizer samples analysis; and replacing the current CNREFS with a National Committee for Fertilizer and Soil Fertility (CNEFS).

Below: MIR+ presentation on their fertilizer survey in Senegal.

technical Support and implementation

As part of its mandate from the ECOWAS Commission, the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) through USAID WAFP is facilitating the harmonization of national fertilizer regulations – as well as effective implementation of the resulting harmonized regional fertilizer framework – by providing appropriate technical and/or financial assistance to ECOWAS countries, intended to facilitate increased regional trade and use of quality fertilizers across the region. 2

Using mobile soil testing kits for rapid fertilizer decision-making: USAID WAFP and its partners lead the way A key factor limiting farmer use of fertilizer in West Africa is the lack of recommendations for fertilizers that result in the most profitable yields for farmers. Fertilizer recommendations in most countries are outdated and too general, failing to address location-specific climatic and soil conditions or crop nutrients requirements. Moreover, they are not geared toward the use of most appropriate and costeffective fertilizer blends such as high-analysis fertilizer. Soil and plant analyses are important keys to identifying nutrient limitations and refining fertilizer recommendations for crops to best increase yields.

sector, farmer organizations, research and extension and soil fertility-related development partners from Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo. The meeting afforded participants the opportunity to review the principles and functionality of mobile soil test kits and to get hands-on experience operating of some commonly-used test kits, including the SoilDoc, Hach, Hansen, Palintest SK400 and SoilCares test kits. The workshop further served as a platform to explore future opportunities for a harmonized approach between partners in validating and calibrating the various portable soil test kits and then disseminating them in West Africa. Participants mapped out a business development strategy to promote the effective use of soil test kits in developing fertilizer recommendations. The strategy included information to prepare the private sector to invest in simple systems for blending new fertilizer formulations arising from recommendations based on the use of soil testing kits.

Soil analysis from wet chemistry labs (WCL) can deliver accurate soil and plant analytical results, but the turnaround time can be long and no interpretation or recommendation is provided along with the analytical results. Frequent disruptions in electricity and water supply, and the poor quality of reagents are issues confronting some wet chemistry laboratories in SSA. Interest in the use of mobile soil testing kits is growing because of their simple nature which makes them user-friendly by farmers, extension workers and agro input dealers. This is relevant, especially if the soil testing kits would provide meaningful data about fertility and nutrient limitations of soils that would allow appropriate fertilizer formulation for specific soils and crops.

Presentations, Demonstrations and Group work

To create awareness and to improve rapid and effective on-farm fertilizer decision-making, USAID WAFP and its partners IFDC, AFAP and ECOWAS collaborated with AGRA, CABI, Columbia University, Soil Cares, ENVASERV and SoilCares to organize a two-day regional workshop to review and evaluate the existing available soil testing kits and develop a roadmap for their efficient use in West Africa.

To set the tone for participant discussion, the workshop provided technical presentations on soil fertility management issues as well as on the composition and functioning of some of the test kits available. Dr Sampson Agyin-Birikorang of IFDC gave an overview of global productive lands and the characteristics of soils and agricultural productivity systems. He included examples of inappropriate soil fertility management, explaining how these result in soil mining. He further explained how soil nutrient replenishment through adequate fertilizer use can be achieved through knowledge of soil fertility and the soil nutrient needs for any given crop.

The workshop took place on March 30-31, 2015 in Accra, Ghana. It brought together 50 participants representing the private

USAID WAFP’s soil fertility management specialist, Dr Jean Ekwe Dossa, emphasized the need for soil testing to diagnose nutrient

Regional Workshop

“...increasing fertilizer use per se is not what should be pursued.What really matters is the right type of fertilizer, at the right dose, at the right time, at the right place”.” – R.Voortman, participant, E-Forum on “Increasing Fertilizer Use in Africa: What Have We Learned?” Final Moderators’ Report. Centre for Development and Poverty Reduction, Imperial College, London.

Dr. Sampson Agyin-Birikorang of IFDC delivering his presentation on soils and soil nutrients.

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A workshop participant tries out one of the mobile soil test kits.

“...a one size fits all measure can’t work to address soil infertility.” – MR Saa Dittoh, University of Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana

needs and deficiencies and to identify extreme soil conditions impeding plant growth. Dr. Peter Van Erp of SoilCares, Kenya presented his organization’s approach to soil testing, which is based on infrared reflectance and responds to the challenges of classical soil testing approaches (which take time) in reaching out to a large number of farmers in a more timely manner.

Recommendations and Way Forward

Several key recommendations were made by stakeholders at the workshop in order to achieve the goals of the roadmap: • IFDC was mandated to coordinate all related activities across key institutions and programs toward validating and promoting soil test kits in West Africa. Focal points will be identified to make an inventory and report on all test kits-related ongoing initiatives in their respective countries and institutions.

Other presenters including Mr. Emmanuel Lamptey of ENVASERV, Dr. Francis Tetteh of the Soil Research Institute of Ghana, Dr. AgyinBirikorang and Dr. Lydia Gatere of Columbia University, all of whom took turns to educate participants on the nature and operations of mobile soil test kits. These presentations were followed by practical field demonstrations of how to set up and operate soil test kits. Participants gained hands-on experience in undertaking various procedures involved in collecting, measuring and analyzing soil samples, as well as the reading and interpretation of results.

• To organize further training around the kits, field testing and validation, which should occur before large-scale promotion. Suitable individuals from each participating country, with the necessary scientific knowledge to sample, analyze and interpret results, are to be trained in best-practices for soil testing, from kit operation and maintenance to making recommendations based on the results and uploading results data to national databases. • Development of test kit communications materials useful in training farmers and other stakeholders, and available for use as descriptive technical bulletins for broadcast and electronic media.

A key component of the workshop was group discussions. These were meant to generate concrete and pragmatic steps to achieve the various objectives of the meeting. Specific objectives included scaling up and promoting the use of mobile soil test kits, and using the test kit results for better decision-making about fertilizer production, supply and use in West Africa. The groups came up with recommendations that were further synthesized into a roadmap for action. The groups also assigned responsibilities to respective stakeholders to assure successful implementation of the roadmap.

Finally, the workshop advocated for the need to explore, educate and encourage the private sector to take full advantage of the potential business opportunities that are expected to emerge around the importation, distribution and use of the mobile soil test kits, as well as in the development, production and supply of specific fertilizer blends that respond to the science-based recommendations produced by soil test results. n 4

Tour participants visiting an OCP processing facility in Jorf Lasfar.

“This was an excellent opportunity for our company to expand its operations and to get hooked to a reliable source of supply...We are committing ourselves to progressively developing partnership with OCP for (...) specific and recommended NPK formulations for Mali and Senegal.” – Mr. Moussa Sylla, SAB Holdings of Senegal

Private West Africa Fertilizer Businesses Establish Linkages with Giant Producer OCP Representatives of 11 private fertilizer enterprises from across West Africa paid a 3-day business visit to the Office Chérifien de Phosphates (OCP), the largest producer of phosphorus in the sub-region, with the view to exploring the possibility of new partnerships and networks for the supply and distribution of fertilizers in West Africa.

discuss possible business opportunities within the West African market. Participants also visited OCP’s phosphorus production facility in Jorf Lasfar.

The tour, organized by USAID WAFP with support from OCP, forms part of USAID WAFP’s efforts to improve levels of fertilizer consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa. The low levels of fertilizer use are partly caused by limited availability resulting from supply constraints – including the absence of effective business linkages and underdeveloped distribution networks. Introducing fertilizer production and blending and distribution companies to OCP, a giant producer of primary raw materials, is an effective path to improving fertilizer supply by facilitating business relationships between important actors in the fertilizer value chain.

encouraging business opportunities

With a new fertilizer production capacity of one million tons per year targeted at African markets, OCP has a keen interest in developing and creating new partnerships with importers and distributors of fertilizers located in the West African sub-region. The tour created opportunities for company representatives to have exclusive B2B meetings with various officials of OCP to 5

Mr. Cherefou Mahatan of MANOMA SA of Niger, explained, “this relationship that has just been established between OCP and our respective companies is a very positive one for the future of the fertilizer industry in West Africa. When managed properly, it will help inject efficiency and reliability along the supply chain and subsequently lead to improved availability of relevant fertilizers for our consumers”. He appealed to OCP to grant the possibility of paying for consignments by letters of credit to enable the West African enterprises place orders at the soonest possible time.

positive results for the future

Post-visit follow-ups have revealed that SAB Holding is already at an advanced stage in preparation to order three 40-foot containers of specific NPK blends from OCP in the shortest possible time to start of the business partnership between the two companies. This was confirmed to USAID WAFP by SAB’s representative on the trip, Mr. Moussa Sylla. Similarly, Tropic Agro from Burkina Faso has initiated discussions with OCP to commit an amount of US$ 2.5 million for the purchase of 5,000 metric tonnes of DAP meant for onward distribution to wholesalers and retailers in Burkina Faso. n

fertilizer statistics “...fertilizer is not a complete solution. Great progress can be made by helping smallholders increase their understanding of – and capacity to operate within – the marketplace of ideas, technologies, and commodities.” – Michael B. Wallace, Winrock International Institute for Agricultural Development,

“Inorganic Fertilizer Use in Africa: Environmental and Economic Dimensions”

1 year

1 mo.

Mar-15

Feb-15

Jan-15

Dec-14

Nov-14

Oct-14

Sep-14

Aug14

Jul-14

Fertilizer Type

Jun-14

Apr-14

May-14

International Fertilizer Prices through MARCH 2015 (all FOB bulk spot, USD/MT)

N

Urea (prilled, Arab Gulf)

352

315

328

342

344

348

318

312

320

334

316

286

-9%

-10%

N

Urea (granular, Indonesia/Malaysia)

315

299

301

309

333

350

331

316

311

323

309

285

-8%

-2%

N

Ammonium Sulfate (Black Sea)

121

115

114

132

148

154

145

145

147

148

150

153

2%

24%

N

Ammonia (Yuzhny)

510

499

463

451

470

543

588

596

541

426

405

405

0%

-21%

P

DAP (Baltic/Black Sea)

465

435

458

496

513

506

491

473

485

488

497

493

-1%

7%

P

MAP (Morocco)

475

460

489

518

530

520

500

481

463

491

489

475

-3%

3%

P

TSP (Tunisia)

385

385

385

395

398

407

410

408

405

405

405

405

0%

5%

K

MOP (Israel)

298

298

298

298

298

298

298

298

298

298

298

299

0%

0%

K

SOP (in €, North-West Europe)

435

435

465

465

465

465

471

476

478

478

478

478

0%

10%

NPK

16-16-16 (FSU)

350

350

350

359

365

366

367

365

365

365

363

360

-1%

4%

Copyright © 2014 Argus Media Ltd. All rights reserved.

For more detailed information and data, visit www.argusmedia.com/fertilizer

For more information and market analysis on International Fertilizer Prices please check the statistics section of www.africafertilizer.org.

FERTILIZER RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RICE IN SELECTED WEST AFRICAN COUNTRIES Country

Source

Benin

Burkina Faso 1

Burkina Faso 2

Ghana

Mali 1

Mali 2

Nigeria 1

Nigeria 2

Senegal

Togo

CRA-CF CeRPA

INERA

INERA

SARI

IER

IER

FFD

FFD

Direction de l’Agriculture

ITRA

Country-wide

Country-wide

Agro-ecological Country-wide Zone Fertilizer 1

Irrigated/ raining campaign

Irrigated/ raining campaign

Country-wide

Country-wide Rice area

NPK 15-20-15 NPK 15-25-15 NPK 12-24-18 NPK 15-15-15 DAP 18-46-0 NPK 16-26-12 +3.5MgO

Application rate (kg/ha)

200

300

300

Time/mode of application

Dressing

Dressing

Dressing

Fertilizer 2

Urea

Urea

Urea

Application rate (kg/ha)

50

100

100

Time/mode of application

Top Dressing

Dressing

Top Dressing

400

Sahel, Sudan, Savanna, Savanna, Northern Southern Guinea Guinea, Forest NPK 20-10-10

NPK 20-10-10

DAP 18-46-0 NPK 15-15-15

100

200

200

200

300

150

Planting

Planting

Planting

Planting

Planting

Dressing

Urea

Urea

-

Urea

Urea

Urea

Urea

125

100

-

75

75

100

50

-

Dressing

Dressing

Dressing

Top Dressing

2 weeks and 5 weeks after planting

5 weeks after Top Dressing PD

Compiled by USAID WAFP and AfricaFertilizer.org. For more detailed information please contact [email protected].

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